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Dr. Harrison Chen: Wisdom Teeth Rockstar

I know this doesn’t exactly fit with the usual topics we cover, but I wanted to share a personal endorsement based on my recent experience.

I’ll spare you the details, but I decided to get all four of my wisdom teeth removed. They’ve been in the same spot for ten years or more, but recently started to be an annoyance and my dentist suggested I have them removed.

I went for a consult with Dr. Harrison Chen after being referring by my dentist and reading many glowing reviews online. When I arrived, the nurse took me to the x-ray room and they took a CT scan of my head. This allows Dr. Chen to see all your teeth in 3D, unlike your standard dental x-ray. He explained to me that these more advanced scans allow him to work much faster because he can see everything in detail before starting. Not to get too graphic, but this includes the direction of tooth roots, etc.

I asked quite a few questions and Dr. Chen answered them all. He also informed me that after office hours all calls get forwarded to his cell phone, so I could call if I had any additional concerns.

Anyway, I came back about a week later to have my all four of my wisdom teeth removed. I will admit, I was quite nervous leading up to it; the idea of canceling did cross my mind, but I resisted. I was escorted into an exam room by the nurse, she pulled the IV materials out of a drawer and sat them on the counter. Of course, I then sat there for the next ten minutes or so staring at the needle in the plastic tube.

Dr. Chen then came in and started to get the IV ready. I readily informed him I was a baby with needles; he said no problem and suggested I suck on the laughing gas for a little while, which I did. After a couple minutes, he started the IV, which was in the back of my hand (as opposed to my arm) and it really was no big deal.

From there, I remember the image of him starting to reach into my mouth, and the next thing I remember was being told it was over. I believe a maximum of 15 minutes had past. I had some gauze in my mouth, but felt fine otherwise. Immediately afterwards, they asked if I needed anything, so I asked for my Blackberry and started tweeting and sending emails. I sat there for a while, and then went home alone on the subway.

I had to put fresh gauze in my mouth pretty frequently, but otherwise had very little pain. The bigger annoyance was sticking to soft food for 24 hours and then eating carefully after that. I was used to chewing with my wisdom teeth, so chewing without them took a little getting used to.

Wise or not, I had this procedure done less than 48 hours before going to Vegas for a long weekend. Besides not being able to drink from a straw and having to remember to take anti-biotics, it did not impact my trip.

When I returned to Dr. Chen a week later for a follow-up, he gave me a friendly “I told you so.” He had told me despite my anxiety, it will be easy. Getting wisdom teeth out still certainly isn’t fun, but Dr. Chen made it as easy as it could possibly be. So, if you are in NYC, and need your wisdom teeth removed or other oral surgery, give his office a call.